Geeks, nerds, and aficionados of the strange rejoice! The San
Diego Comic-Con has graced our lives once again, delivering comics, scantily
clad women, and Storm Troopers. Lots of Storm Troopers. But over the past few
years, the invasion of Hollywood
and the video-game industry has derailed the convention's original purpose:
comic books.

Let's face it: people who want to read static, black-and-white books (see: old people) are going to stick with their Kindles and Nooks. If the iPad is going to get any traction whatsoever (and for the record, we're predicting a faceplant, but that's another post) it's going to have to present its users with an experience they can't get on their iPhone.

The rumormongering surrounding director Zach Snyder and writer David Hayter's upcoming adaptation of Watchmen got a little out of hand on these tubes of ours. Hell, we even thought some of it was true. But in the end, the official cast, announced today, is probably about what you'd expect in the real world: solid, but hardly star-studded.

They've announced a director for the Wolverine solo spinoff film: Gavin Hood. I didn't see his Oscar-winning film Tsotsi, but it seems to be well-liked among those who have. I do know this: take a director known for well-liked smaller films and give him a big-budget, high-profile feature and the results are usually good (see here and here

About a month ago, Ain't It Cool News reported on some casting rumors for the upcoming movie based on Watchmen - our personal favorite comic of all time - directed by Zack Snyder, notably Keanu Reeves as Dr. Manhattan and Jude Law as Ozymandias.

First there was Warner Bros' setting up this site. Nothing much to see here, just a cool logo, and a reminder that this movie will exist. Then, there was this:

A neat image that fans of the comics - particularly the stellar "Long Halloween" series - can latch on to, one that does, in its way, give a small glimpse into the plot, although it was not exactly difficult to figure out that Harvey Dent's rise to the position of District Attorney was somehow going to be a part of the new movie.